Science has yet to prove blue light, which is emitted by electronic devices, damages vision. It has been shown, however, blue light affects sleep patterns. Glasses made for working on computers (or playing with tablets) do reduce eye strain by filtering the screen glare. We don’t know what the long-term effects of being on a tablet for many hours each day could be. So it just makes sense to err on the side of caution. If your little one is on a device, then blue light glasses should be on his or face.

The market for blue light glasses is booming. You can find blue light glasses for kids on Amazon as well as at your local optical shop. All of them work by filtering out the spectrum of blue light created by digital devices. Blue light interrupts melatonin production and makes sleep less restful. But some glasses block more blue light than others. Lenses are given a special coating that filters out varying percentages of blue light. Lenses with a yellow tinge filter out more blue light. Essilor is famous for its Crizal line of lens coatings. Crizal Prevencia is an anti-reflective coating specifically made to shield eyes from harmful blue light while letting in helpful light that improves mood and cognition. It is more resistant to dust and scratches than other coatings.